Quick Overview Dr. Down shares her career development as an educator, and describes her most impactful experience that made her reorient her work towards education for sustainable development (ESD). Dr. Down shares that ESD aims to have the students understand the concept of sustainable development, see the possibility of a sustainable society, be aware of the sustainability issues within and outside their own communities, ask questions, and take action towards sustainability. It does so...

Quick Overview Dr. McKeown-Ice has been one of the pioneers in education for sustainable development (ESD), and her understanding of ESD has evolved with the times. In today’s world, ESD has become part of educating for a more uncertain future; it includes educating for agency, adaptive competence and compassionate systems. The demonstration of ESD producing outcomes that characterise quality education, plus the examples and tools offered by Dr. McKeown-Ice, shall encourage teachers of any...

Quick Overview Dr. Hathaway believes that the major challenges currently faced by humanity come down to the crisis of relationships, which refers to how individuals are related to other human beings, other species, and the planet. Far too often, we perceive the world as an object for our personal use, whereas our happiness lies in interconnectivity. Dr. Hathaway’s elaboration on ecological perception provides guidance for us to connect with nature through experience. The key factors include...

Quick Overview To Dr. Corcoran, the Earth Charter represents a fountain of thoughtful, informed hope. The idea of “living the Earth Charter” in the university where he works has yielded experimental and experiential programmes including the Colloquium, the Earth Charter Meal, and Blessing with the Food. With regard to the book Intergenerational Learning and Transformative Leadership for Sustainable Futures, Dr. Corcoran recalls how he was inspired by the Earth Charter to lift up young...

Quick Overview Dr. Crowell shares inspiring stories and projects behind a number of his publications. On systems thinking, he not only stresses on the interconnection reflected in the content of teaching and learning, but also draws attention to the interaction in the classroom, the connection among teachers, and the dynamics in the school. Seeing emergence as part of systems thinking, Dr. Crowell gives a lucid introduction to the process in emergent teaching. As for transformative learning,...

Quick Overview To Dr. Corcoran, the Earth Charter represents a fountain of thoughtful, informed hope. The idea of “living the Earth Charter” in the university where he works has yielded experimental and experiential programmes including the Colloquium, the Earth Charter Meal, and Blessing with the Food. With regard to the book Intergenerational Learning and Transformative Leadership for Sustainable Futures, Dr. Corcoran recalls how he was inspired by the Earth Charter to lift up young...

Quick Overview The challenges of development in India have led Mr. Kartikeya Sarabhai to consider the role of education, especially in the aspect of communication. He attaches great importance to the invisible word “for” in the acronym “ESD,” and distinguishes “ESD” (Education for Sustainable Development) from “SDE” (Sustainable Development Education). When comparing Education for Sustainable Development with conventional education, Mr. Sarabhai highlights three features of the former:...

Quick Overview Dr. Westra first became aware of the tremendous potential that the concept of “integrity” had before she got involved in the Earth Charter movement. In her opinion, ecological integrity equals no interference with nature, no interference even within a single natural organism. If we corrupt the environment, we are bound to corrupt our own physical health. This explains her strong criticism against the genetically modified organisms and their developers. Dr. Westra also expresses...

Quick Overview In this episode, Dr. Saraph shares his thought-provoking ideas on systems thinking and the interdependence of all parts in a system. Many decision-makers fail to recognize the interdependence and see the whole, as they focus on the parts or just the symptoms and become addicted to the three key tools, which only cover up the symptoms: technology, markets, and politics. The treatment of such addictions centers on systems literacy, which can be developed even from primary and...

Quick Overview Dr. Holland sees the Earth Charter as an alternative of globalization, and he points out the supreme importance of the document, especially from the viewpoint of the resistance against eugenics in the context of ecological civilization. Dr. Ferrero envisions the Earth Charter bringing people together for the shift of paradigm. She also stresses the need to bring the discourse of ecological civilization, which is central to the Earth Charter, back on the table for people from...

Quick Overview Dr. Lambooy explains how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Earth Charter are complementary in three categories, and how these two documents provide the normative, ethical framework for every individual and group to play its part in overcoming the world’s fundamental challenges. Regarding the business sector, the Earth Charter in particular, can help shape the vision of companies large or small, so that they can contribute more towards sustainable development....

Quick Overview Confused by the competition culture in his early years, Mr. Motomura  drew inspiration from a poem and came to realise that the best  entrepreneurs are those who search for the common good. Mr. Motomura  considers opposite of common good to be selfishness and individualism,  and that these qualities have evolved to be collective egotism nowadays,  generating crises. The Earth Charter, in Mr. Motomura’s opinion,  defines what the common good is. He stresses the importance to...

Quick Overview What amazes Dr. Brown, who has a diverse background in education, law, ethics, science, and engineering, is how ethical issues have been largely ignored by countries, neglected in higher education, and missed by the public and even the environmental community. He believes that climate change, more than any other environmental problem, demands governments to see it and respond to it as an ethical matter. Whereas two critical principles have been agreed upon in international...

Quick Overview Prue Taylor and Dr. Klaus Bosselmann recall how their concerns over the existing laws and systems led to their participation and collaboration in the drafting of the Earth Charter. On the document’s relevance nowadays, Ms. Taylor draws attention to the global citizenship movement and also explains how the Earth Charter is a tool to hold ourselves to account and to continue the needed ongoing dialogues on how to care and protect the Earth. Dr. Bosselmann stresses on the Earth...

Quick Overview Mr. Speth explains how the bad habits of thought including individualism, materialism, consumerism, and tribalism do not make sense today, and a new consciousness is required. Mr. Speth emphasized that for a sustainable future, we need a stable or smaller world population, the eradication of mass poverty, environmentally benign technologies, environmentally honest prices, sustainable consumption, knowledge and learning, good governance, and the transition of culture and...

Quick Overview Dr. Korten recounts how he learned about poverty and awoke to nature  while he was on track to become a businessperson. His own mindset  experienced another sudden shift with an encounter on a plane. Over the  years, Dr. Korten has developed the concepts of earth community,  ecological civilization, phantom wealth and more. It is his strong  belief that human beings are living beings, rather than financial  beings, and we depend on a living earth. Moving past our current...

Reseña El Dr. Grian Cutanda comparte su investigación dirigida a resaltar el papel de los cuentos tradicionales y mitos en generar cambios en la visión del mundo mediante la educación. Analizó 336 mitos, leyendas y cuentos de tradiciones orales de varias culturas del mundo cuyos componentes son sistémicos, complejos y ecocéntricos. Las historias de las tradiciones orales que identificó destacan una visión del mundo acorde a los principios de la Carta de la Tierra donde entran lo cognitivo, lo...

Reseña El profesor Mateo Castillo resalta los principios de la CT desde perspectivas personales, sociales, gubernamentales y educativas. En lo personal, porque significó tener esperanza y vivir con compromiso de vida digna para humanos y otros seres vivos. Castillo comparte que para él esto se trata de un proceso transformador y espiritual para internalizar los valores expresados en la Carta de la Tierra y descubrir la unicidad, todo depende de todo. Destaca que la participación ciudadana en...

Reseña La Dra. María Vilches comparte sus experiencias trabajando con eco escuelas en Puerto Rico. Destaca sus inicios de trabajo con comunidades y la teoría de Augusto Boal en proyectos interdisciplinares. Su interés por la educación en valores la lleva a la educación ambiental desde la ciencia. En el año 2000, descubre la Carta de la Tierra que para ella es un documento poético con gran belleza y una visión esperanzadora que presenta líneas de acción concretas. Esto es, que ofrece...

Reseña La Dra. Novo narra sus inicios en una pequeña ciudad de Galicia donde se involucró en una campaña ecologista que logró salvar un parque que las urbanizadoras se estaban “comiendo”. La experiencia la llevó a reflexionar sobre sus intereses en salvar la naturaleza apoyada por su interés y formación en educación. Realizó así la primera tesis doctoral en educación ambiental en España a principios de los años 80. Declara que su lucha desde entonces ha sido promulgar nuevos valores y formas...

Reseña Moema Viezzer hace un recorrido de sus inicios como educadora popular con la filosofía de Paulo Freire, transitando por la educación social para descubrir que todo lo social es ambiental y viceversa. Lo que la lleva al encuentro del feminismo y la necesidad de una educación popular feminista y de una educación ambiental feminista. Destaca que para abordar problemas ambientales es necesario hablar con los actores sociales y llegar a la población en escuelas, iglesias, bares,...

Reseña Reflexiones El profesor Leonardo Boff comparte que se involucró en el proceso de redacción de Carta de la Tierra desde 1998 por su interés en la visión de ecología integral y de la teología de la liberación de las que nasce una ecoteología de liberación. En la Carta de la Tierra encontró un pensamiento con gran afinidad al que estaba elaborando en su cabeza. Enfatiza que para comprender la Tierra hay que estudiar las ciencias de la tierra, las ciencias de la vida al igual que la nueva...

Quick Overview Dr. Brenes commends the quality, breadth and multiplicity of the Earth Charter, and he believes that its core of ethical principles is the most relevant to our times. As our generation’s challenge lies in the cultural shift to overcome egocentrism, Dr. Brenes calls attention to universal responsibility, which resembles a bridge connecting human rights, duties and obligations. He explains how responsibility is a sense of consciousness, an awareness, and a willingness to act. He...

Quick Overview Ms. Bernstein reflects on her experience in the Earth Charter drafting process and the eminent figures involved, as an example of a total absence of ego, which made a significant difference in this process. In her eyes, the Earth Charter has embedded in it the integrated ethical vision to guide the transition towards sustainability. Apart from the inclusive process and the sharp language, the document features the key idea of universal responsibility. Ms. Bernstein sees the...

Quick Overview Ms. von Weizsäcker expresses how she has enjoyed listening and learning through her participation in many negotiations and drafting processes such as the biodiversity convention, biosafety protocol, the Earth Charter, and more. Her elaboration on the meaning and importance of the Precautionary Principle, the Polluter Pays Principle and the Environment Democracy Principle is full of insights and clarity. She reflects on the power dynamics in some negotiations and also in the...